There seems to be a swing cycle at play in Obama's candidacy. Remember last summer when everyone felt he was under-performing in the polls, and people were asking when the campaign was going to get traction? Then Obama took Iowa, expectations soared and pundits declared Hillary was "toast." Then New Hampshire and Nevada and a seeming Obama slump...to be followed by South Carolina and his string of victories in February. And then he closed out the primary season with lackluster results.
Now, people are asking why he hasn't taken a sizable lead? Maybe it's the swing factor again (and if there is a swing factor, I'm not sure what causes it, though I think one contributing factor is that the Obama campaign gets cocky).
But I think other things are at play here too. People, like my parents, are too uncertain of him and wary of anyone that younger people go ga-ga over. That's the point of the "celebrity" attack and it plays to older, rural, middle of the road voters.
Obama has got to find a way to get these people over their doubts about him. If he can, I think people will stop being willing to overlook McCain's shortcomings and move to Obama.
2 comments:
Part of the reason for the slip, I think, was parodied on SNL but I think there was truth to it--the media's Obama crush is over and now half the headlines are about how he "changed his mind" or "moved to the center" on some issue. They used to portray him as the son of God, now he's just a regular ol' politician who panders.
Will I still vote for him? You bet. I just wonder why a general election has to put our future presidents through such a ringer first.
I kinda think it's good that the candidates have to go through a tough process because I would think actually being president would be harder...it's a vetting process.
Which isn't to say some of the games we expect our candidates to play isn't silly.
On Obama flip flopping, in general, I see him being consistent with his belief in compromise and bringing people together to get something done.
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